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Raid On Coruscant: A Closer Look

So with months off before Rebels comes back, no new really big SW news, and my next Star Wars Summer Read still on its way to my library, it seems like a good time to talk some more about the Lego Star Wars specials! Plus, with Droid Tales on the way it’d probably be a good idea to get back in on this. So I bring you my Closer Look on Raid On Coruscant. Enjoyyyyy.NOTE: Contains spoilers from The Empire Strikes Out, The Phantom Clone, Race For The Holocrons, Raid On Coruscant

When we last left our heroes, things… didn’t go that well. Guess who has two thumbs and all the holocrons? THIS GUYYY! Er… Darth Vader, not me… I guess that joke doesn’t technically work in this context. Never mind. So yeah that’s a problem. Now the Empire has a full list of every planet sympathetic to the Rebel Alliance. Naboo is next on this list. “I can’t figure out how our sign didn’t throw them off!”, yesss because they’d totally buy the “Not a Rebel Base” sign XD I figure Vader had fun laying waste to this planet… on the list of planets associated with his past he’d like to destroy, Naboo’s probably tops on the list. Yeah this does not look good. Yoda and Obi-Wan know that for sure, that’s why they called up their old buddy JEK-14 to lend a Force-enriched hand. But it seems someone didn’t get the memo on that… Qui-Gon Jinn showed up, ready and rarin’ to go to help his comrades! Well, this is awkward. So Obi-Wan and Yoda give their other old buddy a job opening a pickle jar. Qui-Gon’s totally into it “You remembered how good I am at opening things! Let me at it! I have a very particular set of skills.” XD (OMG I just realized they dropped a Taken reference *dies laughing*)
So Vader was going to give his master an update, but it took a bit longer than he would’ve preferred, having to get past his secretary and being put on hold. Makes sense, though. I mean, if you’re Emperor of the entire galaxy you’ve got to be a busy dude. So Darth takes a tea break, only to have Sidious come on the line a minute later. Palpatine’s glad to see his progress, and now offers up the next planet to mess with — Tatooine. Otherwise known as #1 on Vader’s “planets associated with my past that I’d like to destroy” list. It’s funny I wouldn’tve pegged Tatooine for having too many Rebel sympathizers, but apparently any at all is too many as far as the Empire’s concerned. Looks like Threepio’s interview is over…
In the back of the Mos Eisley cantina, Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie discuss their situation and what their next move should be. Luke believes their best move would be to head on over to Coruscant itself and take the holocrons back. Han’s response is hilarious “Kid! You’ve been sleeping with that flashlight-thing too close to your brain!” 😛 Leia’s actually resorted to considering hiding as a good plan, but regardless of the risky nature of the plan, Luke believes that’s their best move. And then in comes a AT-AT… right in the middle of the cantina. Like clockwork, the Empire has arrived. But so also has one JEK-14…
The Falcon crew finds themselves facing down Imperial resistance from both ends, including but not limited to Lord Vader in an AT-AT. Thankfully for our heroes, those things, while impressive and super-cool, take a little work to turn around and that gives them an opportunity to make a run for it. They try for the Falcon‘s docking bay only to be met by Jabba and every bounty hunter he could ever hope to hire to capture Captain Solo. And Luke’s doesn’t work much better… those fangirls of his are back. So things just got more chaotic that it already was. As they were running for their lives, JEK runs up alongside them, introducing himself as a friend of Obi-Wan’s and offering them a lift out of this mess. Luke is a tad skeptical, at least up until JEK uses that arm of his to build a wall between them and their pursuers. But just when they thought they’d gotten out of the soup, they’re met by blasterfire from Vader’s AT-AT. Just when they thought they were back in the soup, Artoo and Threepio take aim at the transport with the Falcon! Vader’s not too happy to see that old thing pwning his weaponry again… and I bet he’d be even less happy to know that two familiar droids were the ones at the controls. So he decides to ditch the AT-AT and meet them full-on with his lightsaber. JEK was about to work his Force-arm magic and turn the Falcon invisible, but his Force-control don’t work as well as it used to. Though it does make an interesting point; obviously age doesn’t impact one’s use of the Force (see: everything Yoda’s ever done), so does that mean JEK’s arm is robotic and not physical? My only problem with that theory is that he was a normal clone who was enhanced by a kyber crystal, so that shouldn’t have turned his arm robotic out of the gate. But technically, JEK isn’t actually Force-sensitive in the traditional sense, he gained some unique abilities via the kyber crystal, but it’s not the same as actual Force sensitivity. He has just as many midichlorians as the rest of the clones (well, maybe a couple more?). So I think my theory of his arm being overcharged by pure Force still stands. Sorry if that made no sense at all, but it’s definitely interesting looking at this concept from a realistic standpoint. So it finally takes Han giving the old guy’s arm a whack to get it back to fully functioning, and with that, the ship disappears from Vader’s sight and flies off to the Kashyyk base. Also yay Qui-Gon got that pickle jar open! “So awkward, this is…” XD
So Vader kinda had to go and explain what happened to Sidious. Sidious isn’t pleased, but there are still plenty of other planets to crush out there. While hunting through the holocrons for a fresh planet, he happens to find one loaded with footage of a young Anakin Skywalker. Consider Darth Vader’s interest piqued. As the master and the apprentice head off to the screening room to find out what their next target is, Vader happens to quietly take the past-self holocron with him. Of course, that “screening room” is technically the senate building (no one told Senator Yawn this, though… poor dude), and in there they find that the planet in question is “Wookiee World”. Vader points out its actual name and location, and to that Sidious drops one of the greatest lines uttered in Lego SW history “Well, you’re a real Star Wars nerd, aren’t you?” SO META! XD XD Though in all seriousness, Rebels, you’re in trouble… but it turns out the Rebels are pretty aware of that. So Luke’s come back to his raid plan again, with help from Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar (and of course JEK, who helps polish off the Falcon in a marvelous way), they might stand a chance.
Meanwhile, Vader was taking a moment to watch that holocron he confiscated. It shows an early Clone Wars battle with a younger, nicer him along with Obi-Wan and Mace Windu, all cracking very future-foretelling quips (“When you guys joke around like that it makes me want to get tossed out a high-rise window with my arm cut off!” Seriously? That’s kinda scary…). Vader’s had enough of it and kicks the ‘cron away. It does make you wonder what all Darth’s feeling right now. This is between Episodes IV and V so he knows who Luke is and it’s starting to chip away at his outer shell. He likely still harbors hate for the Jedi and probably still refers to his old self as someone else, but at this juncture I could see him starting to slowly question his allegiances. Face it bro you’ve still got good in ya! But no time to think about that he’s got Rebels to crush!
As for the Rebels, the plan is set, JEK’s knows the lay of the Coruscant land, and Artoo’s got the floor plans! At least, he will once Leia finds the right compact disc to load. Han breaks the awkward silence with “Ever wonder how come we don’t have digital downloads yet?” Pffff XD Luke senses the Empire’s approach, so it’s time for the Rebels to make their move! But by the time they get to Coruscant… the Imperials are gone. That’s because the Imperials already left for Kashyyk! You can imagine how much Vader liked this surprise. Yeahh I had never thought two enemies could miss each other like that, but it’s working in the Rebels’ favor so they have more time to grab those holocrons without opposition. And then enter in the Imperial Guards. OK so the plan’s not entirely without opposition. But duh that’s why JEK-14’s here. #ForceEnhancedBenefits JEK takes a look in the old Holocron Vault and Han and Luke enter into Palpatine’s office. JEK doesn’t find any ‘crons, though he does find himself fighting that old vault droid who doesn’t play fair. But Han knows just how to make their entrance — making one in the Emperor’s office window. And the dark dude hasn’t yet left the building. Then he doesn’t play fair and hides in the closet until he throws all Force lightning on the two young heroes, and that turns into a ‘saber battle between Luke and Sidious. Man, Luke is really doing awesome, standing his ground against such a formidable foe. I mean, Luke’s practically just started his training and Palpatine brought down Jedi masters! Either the Force is really really really with young Skywalker or Palpatine’s just getting old. I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
Oh yeah, and with Artoo’s help, JEK managed to get out of that mess with the vault droid. Artoo grabbed a single ‘cron and whacked him over the head with it (the vault droid, not JEK-14). Back at the battle in Palpatine’s office, the smacktalk had begun. “YOU ARE A WEAK PATHETIC FARM BOY!” “Oh yeah? Well, your teeth are yellow!” “*GASP* WORDS CAN HURT YOU KNOW!” Another one of the best lines ever! 😆 XD Though seriously have we seen one honest-to-goodness Sith without bad teeth? Even most second-rate Sithy-sorts have bad teeth! I guess we can cut Ventress and Savage from this ranking but still! Luke finally knocks the ‘saber from Sidious’ hands, but that only frees him up to Force-grab the boy and throw him out the window. Thankfully, a tour bus full of Jawas was at the right place in the right time. Palpatine thought he could get away scot-free, but didn’t expect to be surrounded at all ends by Han, Chewie, and alllll those Wookiees in the senate building. Luke finally rejoins the party, but the Emperor’s not going to make it easy for our heroes — he threatens to destroy the holocrons! But Skywalker knows how to play his cards right; “Go ahead! Destroy them!” and literally everybody be like “WHUT?“. Luke knows there’s no way Palpatine would really want to destroy all his precious intel. And that’s where JEK comes in, for the good of the galaxy, Luke gives him the command to destroy the holocrons. It’s sad to see all these years worth of documented Jedi history blown to pieces, but if it allows the Rebels to fight another day, then it’s a necessary sacrifice. And with that, the Alliance is heading back to Kashyyk on a good note.
As for Vader, he finally showed up after managing the space battle. And he happened to find Palpatine trapped on top of the senate building, cape caught on its spike, and his heart-print boxers for all the world to see. Yes this was not one of the Darths’ better days.
Obi-Wan and Yoda reflect on Luke’s daring decision. Good news is they can’t be used for evil ever again, bad news is now Luke can’t use the holocrons for Jedi training. It’s Master Jinn who suggests Yoda be the one to train him. And he finally outs them for not being honest with him to start with XD “I would expect more from the guys I taught the ways of immortality to!”
Back on Kashyyk, we’re getting to hang around for the Wookiee party! Sure Ewoks know how to throw an epic soiree but the hairy beasts could give them a run for their money! While the Rebels get down, Luke and JEK talk for a moment, as Luke does regret not being able to at least get ahold of one holocron. But JEK reveals that Artoo did managed to keep one… the one with a young Anakin Skywalker 🙂 Awwwz! “Whoever this Jedi is, he’s amazing! I hope someday I turn out just like him!” Well, I wouldn’t really want you to do that, but still, if one thing tugs at my heartstrings, it’s that image of Luke watching his father as the great man he once was :3
So there you go some random Legoness for your Saturday. Hope all my American readers have a Fourth Of July that’s as much fun as an Ewok-and-Wookiee party! 😀